Renewable Energy: Alternative Assembly
Renewable Energy: Alternative Assembly
image: Aleksandar Rodic
Globally many automotive plants sit idle after decades of successful assembly. Some have closed or reduced production, with jobs disappearing at astonishing rates. But in some cases alternative assembly from renewable-energy and new-tech enterprises are taking advantage of the automotive downturn. In turn transforming defunct automotive labour and assembly lines into alternative 'green jobs'. Many renewable-energy companies are seeing opportunities in old automotive assembly lines to produce equipment for solar and wind power systems. Following the trend of the rust-tech industrial base converting to clean-tech manufacturing.
The principal of buying assets when they're cheap is hardly a new idea, or exclusive to the automotive industry, therefore the growth of renewable energy is no exception to market development. Companies are paying only about 25 percent of the estimated cost of building those factories from scratch. Taking advantage of the low prices available today to expand their manufacturing capacity cheaply and to position themselves to grow when market conditions improve. These projects are real attempts to replace thousands of lost automotive jobs with 'green jobs'. It also proves the ability of some renewable-energy companies to benefit from the recession, especially from the automotive industry's pain.
True Meaning Of Green $
True Meaning Of Green $
A new generation of mean, green, marketing machine has been shifting attitudes towards electric cars. Most large automotive companies are still pouring money into electric vehicle development, and venture capitalists are still hot on their heels. Despite the epic financial recession, venture capital investment in green automotive technology keeps rising, and the biggest winners; smart automotive suppliers. But it isn't just about electric vehicles, it is also about time automotive companies started considering complete energy and manufacturing cycles.
The problems faced by the traditional automotive industry, particularly companies in the US, have been well documented. Maybe only to support a glorified lessons-learned system that will never see the light of day. But for many outside investors, now is "THE opportunity" to take a chunk of the market themselves by supporting new clean technologies. Those investors are perhaps supported by naive government initiatives to drive green solutions forward. This opinion based on recent investment decisions in the automotive industry. Governments are being urged to use their new-found power over the banks to pursue environmental goals. They should create a "green bank" to finance the building of energy infrastructures for a low-carbon economy. One idea to raise money; banks should issue green bonds. The borrowing could be specifically for low-carbon investment, and the bonds guaranteed by the governments, making them a sound bet for investors.
